This article appeared in the Iowa Independent, and we thought you’d all appreciate the update!

On Wednesday, the situation at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa started getting scary.

“We had to start making decisions about if and how we were going to keep our apes in the facilities,” said Jim Aipperspach, operations manager at the Great Ape Trust. “So, we had some tense moments.”

As it turns out, life over the next few days was going to be much harder on the human species than the apes.

“They seem to hardly be noticing,” said Rob Shumaker, director of orangutan research. “They just moved to a higher area, and other than a few inches of water in the building, they didn’t really notice a thing. In fact, none of them even got their feet wet.”

The campus’ three orangutans and seven bonobos have spent the week watching boats go by where cars usually tread, as well as being surrounded 24-hours-a-day by staff frantically trying to clean up and keep the water out.

“When you look at the campus now, it looks like a giant mess,” Shumaker said. “But it is actually not so bad.”

Floodwaters from the Des Moines River spilled over a low spot in an agricultural levee, flooding administrative suites and leaving the 230-acre campus in southeast Des Moines mostly under water. The administrative buildings are a total loss, Shumaker said, but computers and delicate research equipment were able to be saved.

“We knew the water was coming,” Shumaker said. “We certainly expect we’ve lost some of our appliances. At the moment, we haven’t identified any structural damage. We had enough warning that we moved all our computer equipment and other essentials, so that’s all saved. What we’ve lost really is the day to day stuff.”

There were some tense moments while watching the water rise, Shumaker said, but the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines and the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha both volunteered to help out in any way they could.

“Happily, we haven’t had to take advantage of that. It’s this kind of event where you really learn who your friends are, and they proved how wonderful they are, and it doesn’t surprise me a bit,” Shumaker said.

The ape buildings, which were constructed with the arboreal tendencies of the apes in mind, are functioning as officials expected they would during times of high water on the campus. The orangutan home stands three stories, or 30-feet, high, and the 13,000-square-foot bonobo home features a pair of 25-foot towers where the apes enjoy spending time.

Great Ape Trust of Iowa is a scientific research facility dedicated to understanding the origins and future of culture, language, tools and intelligence.

For now, it seems the worst is behind them.

“We crested at 6:15 yesterday morning,” Shumaker said. “It stayed at that crest for several hours. At far reaches of the campus, we started to see it recede, so we knew by yesterday evening that the worst was behind us. We expect by tomorrow morning the water levels will drop considerably.”

Photos of flooding at the Great Ape Trust:

Administrative trailers are a “total loss” after flood waters from the Des Moines River inundated the Great Ape Trust of Iowa.

The bonobo building at the Great Ape Trust. The seven bonobos inside simply moved to higher levels in the building as waters began rising.

The orangutan building surrounded by flood waters.

Staff at the Great Ape Trust rake water-soaked straw out of the orangutan building.

Great Ape Trust staff drop off food and supplies for humans and apes.

Operations Director Jim Aipperspach points to the area where water began running onto the Great Ape Trust campus.

A Great Ape Trust employee carries supplies to those working in the ape holding buildings.

Al Setka, communications director for the Great Ape Trust of Iowa, points toward the campus’ entrance from a boat the staff use to get around.

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